Brothers
by Uchiha Sutefu
Summary: Itachi is a formidable warrior, this is known. But to take on an entire clan of shinobi? It is a daunting task, no matter who the person is. Itachi is dealt his own killing blow during the massacre, and has a few last words for his younger brother, Sasuke. CAUTION: Spoilers for anyone not completely up to date. please review, sorry about lack of page break.


SUMMARY:

Itachi is a formidable warrior, this is known. But to take on an entire clan of shinobi? It is a daunting task, no matter who the person is.

Itachi is tired. In the final confrontation of the massacre, Itachi faces his father, Fugaku. Itachi pulls off the final kill, but not without consequences. Itachi is also fatally wounded in this final attack. Sasuke runs in as Itachi falls to his knees, dying. What are the final words Itachi has for his brother?

*CAUTION* For those of you either living under a rock, or who aren't completely up-to-date with the storyline, contains spoilers.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Naruto. I wish I did; that would be wicked. Alas, I don't. All I can do is pretend. But hey, that's what you're on the site for, right? Props go to soprano-in-waiting for the story idea.

Sasuke ran into the room. It was dark, but the moonlight shone through the window enough to see his mother lying on the ground. Sasuke couldn't delude himself for a moment that she was sleeping. Her eyes were wide open in her last moments of fear, and blood was sprayed all over her body. The apron she'd worn to make him his bento was stained a dark maroon color. The whole room smelled like iron.

He could hear grunting from another corner of the room. It definitely sounded like a struggle. For a moment, he was frozen in fear, like he had been outside the room. _Move!_ He had to remind himself, yet again. He knew, now more than ever, he had to be brave. Finally, he was able to force himself to take a step. Momentum kept him going.

He made it about halfway across the room before his eyes finally adjusted to the darkness. His father was dead, Sasuke could tell by his lifeless eyes, but he was upright on his knees, and holding a short sword in his right hand. Sasuke's eyes followed the blade upward, to see that it was embedded into Itachi's abdomen. Black blood leaked out from the wound and ran down the blade, onto his father's lifeless hand. Sasuke's eyes flew open ever wider than they were already.

_What on earth was going on?_

Itachi finally moved. Not much, but enough to surge forward while coughing up blood. He picked up his arms, and placed his hands on the blade that pierced his abdomen. He pushed the blade away, a movement that seemingly took a lot of effort. Finally, the sword was free, and it, along with Fugaku's corpse, fell to the ground with a clatter.

Itachi sunk to his knees. He coughed again, blood flying out of his mouth. A small voice stammered out, "N-nii san?" Itachi's eyes, wide with pain, moved to the side, and made contact with Sasuke's. Itachi raised a shaky arm to his brother, and motioned for Sasuke to move closer. Sasuke's steps were heavy and uneven as he crossed the short distance to where Itachi kneeled on the floor.

Itachi's other hand was applying pressure to the wound on his stomach. Blood gushed out in spurts from between his fingers and around the edges of his hand. Sasuke was now eye-to-eye with his brother. Blood ran down Itachi's chin from the corners of his mouth. He opened it slowly, his brown eyes staring soulfully into Sasuke's. "Sasuke…" Itachi began.

Sasuke's vision was blurry. For a moment he couldn't tell why, but then understood when he felt a warm stream of liquid fall down his cheek. He tasted salt at the corner of his mouth and raised a finger to wipe the tears from his eyes. "Nii san, what happened, everyone's dead, and you're hurt, we need to find you help," Sasuke was breathless at the end of his multi-sentence.

"Quiet, Sasuke. It's too late." Itachi gestured to his stomach, where blood was still gushing out around his hand. He coughed again and more blood splashed onto the already soaked floor. "Yes, everyone's dead. I did it."

Sasuke was speechless. His older brother… Itachi did this? It was inconceivable. Itachi was a prodigy, a genius. He graduated at the top of his class, and at such a young age. He was even able to become ANBU, a right-hand-ninja for the Hokage himself. Sasuke looked up to him, believed in him, and wanted to be like him when Sasuke got older. There was no way that Itachi had done this. Sasuke _couldn't_ believe that Itachi had committed this heinous crime.

"Come on, Sasuke." Itachi spoke again, his voice raspy. "You know it's not that hard to believe. The clan and I, we never really got along. You know that. Ever since the day they accused me of killing Shisui, you couldn't help but notice… the way they looked at me." He paused to cough again, and this time it took a moment before he could catch his breath. "And the way I looked back."

Sasuke's shoulders heaved as it became harder not to cry. Why was this happening? What had he done to deserve this? What had any of them done? "Nii san, why would you do this?" he bawled at his brother.

"To test my capaci-" Itachi paused, then reconsidered. This was the last truth he could ever give his brother. Sasuke was a good kid. He would be able to forgive, Itachi was sure of it. "It was an order."

"But _why_?" Sasuke screamed. "Who would do that? An _entire clan?_ Who could _be_ so…" Sasuke choked on what would have been the last word in his sentence. Sasuke gagged on his tears for a moment, while Itachi stared sadly into his otouto's eyes. He answered calmly, "The clan was planning a coup d'état. I was to stop it."

Sasuke still found it hard to believe, but Itachi's words did make sense, regardless. "Nii san, why… would you abandon your clan, they're your family, they…" _The Hokage looks out for the whole village. _Sasuke remembered from the Academy. _Any threat that the Hokage hears of will be dealt with immediately in order to preserve the well-being of the village, and all of the people in it._

Sasuke knew that if Itachi had actually received orders to wipe out their clan, then he'd had no choice but to comply. It still wasn't fair. "Sasuke. You know why. We've got the same blood. You're just as smart as me, you have the same talents. I need you to grow strong for me, please. Be the man I know you can be. Grow strong, make friends, but never forget your place."

"Nii san," Sasuke made a tight fist by his side, "I'll avenge you, I'll make this right. I sw-"

"No!" Itachi argued in a rough voice. It was obviously quite painful for him to put in the force that he did. When he spoke again, after coughing a bit more, it was quiet, that Sasuke had to strain a bit to hear. "No," Itachi continued, "You mustn't. The entire clan had to die for Konoha to be safe. Don't… don't rush out there and destroy the village in your anger. That would mean… everyone who died today died for nothing if you avenge me."

Sasuke still had tears running from his face. He couldn't help it, hearing how pained his brother was. On the other hand, Sasuke was able to keep his breathing regular, hearing how calm Itachi was in discussing all of this. It made sense. Sasuke didn't want anyone to die, but if it had to be so, he definitely didn't want it to be in vain.

Itachi called his brother's name again. Sasuke looked at his, and was able to hold his head high, despite seeing how quickly Itachi was falling victim to his injuries. This was the most his brother had ever shared with him. If Itachi was to die, Sasuke wanted it to be knowing that his younger brother would carry out his wishes.

"A couple more things, Sasuke. I wanted to apologize. I kept telling you that I would help you with your shuriken practice, but I always put it off. Now it seems that you'll have to do the training on your own. I'm sorry for that. I had always truly believed that I would have the time to help you train, but fate seems to have frowned on that." By now, Itachi was leaning forward onto his arms, using them to hold him up. However, another severe coughing fit sent him to the floor. He was able to roll onto his side to keep facing Sasuke, but seemed to lack the strength to push himself back up.

Itachi's arms lay with one folded under his ruined torso, and the other stretched out over the floor. His fingers twitched, and Sasuke took that to mean that Itachi wanted him closer. Sasuke sat on his knees next to his brother and leaned forward so that he could hear his brother's last words, spoken in a whisper. Seconds later, Sasuke sat up, and used his fingers to push Itachi's eyes closed, silent tears still streaming out of his own.

xXx

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike a lot of things, and don't like many things. I don't have many hobbies. What I have is not a dream, as it will become a reality. I will restore the name of Uchiha."

xXx

Sasuke fights to control the chakra flowing through to the soles of his feet. _Come on!_ He screams to himself. _If you can't even do this, how are you ever going to…_ his thought process is interrupted as Itachi's face pops into his mind. A surge of renowned effort pushes Sasuke further than he'd been yet.

xXx

The boy's image flashes from one ice mirror to another. _Stay calm_. Sasuke tells himself. _Concentrate. See everything. _The boy raises a hand, senbon between every finger. Just as he pulls back to throw them, Sasuke grabs the unconscious body of Naruto at his feet and repels away from where the senbon would land. Sasuke imagines how startled Haku is beneath his mask that Sasuke read his movements. Sasuke places his friend's limp body on the ground and looks up to the mirror that now holds the masked boy's image. Under his mask, Haku's eyes grow wide when he realizes that he is staring into Sasuke's Sharingan.

xXx

The mission in the land of waves has been completed, and Team Seven has finally returned home. After saying goodbye to his teammates, Sasuke heads home alone. He drops his bag on the floor next to his shoes, and proceeds silently to his bedroom. He slides the door shut behind him and lets out a sigh. "I did it, nii san. I awoke the Sharingan." He says aloud to the room. He reaches up to the high shelf in his closet, and brings down a small wooden box, tied shut with a simple brown string. One pull on the string, and the bow comes undone. He stares into the box and thinks of that day, now so long ago…

xXx

Sasuke sat on his knees next to his brother and leaned forward so that he could hear his brother's last words, spoken in a whisper. "When you awaken… your Sharingan…" Itachi began. His voice was weak, no more than air formed into words by a tongue. "I want you to be strong. Take my eyes, and keep them safe until then. The Mongekyo Sharingan will steal your eyesight. The only way to reverse it is to take… your brother's eyes. I want to give them to you now, for that reason. You may even never achieve… the Mongekyo Sharingan… but I want to give you this one… last thing. It will strengthen… your Sharingan. Sasuke… I love you."

xXx

Sasuke stares down at his brother's eyes, wrapped in a plastic bag inside the box. Sasuke feels tears forming in the corners of his eyes at the memory of his brother, but they are not sad tears. These tears remind him how proud Itachi would be to see how strong Sasuke has grown. Sasuke hadn't yet awoken the Mongekyo. But he now had his Sharingan, and therefore a reason to use his brother's eyes. Maybe, If Itachi could still see through them from the other side, he would be able to watch Sasuke's strength grow even more.

"I love you too, nii san."


End file.
